Deathstalker 04 - Deathstalker Honor

ripcord.”
    “Escape pods? Gravity sleds?”
    “In a ship this size? Hey, wait a minute… oh, shit!” Ruby looked at him sharply. “I really didn’t like the way you said that. What is it now?”
    “Half the controls just shut down. Shrapnel from the window has riddled the main computers. We are now running entirely on backup systems. If I try to cut in the manual controls, this heap of shit will drop like a rock. It’s only the few remaining automatic systems that are keeping the engines going.” “Oh, shit.”
    “Exactly. We are currently plummeting toward the surface of an unknown planet in a crippled ship we can’t control, with all the glide factor of half a brick with a nail in it. Feel free to chime in if you have any
    bright ideas that don’t include divine intervention.”
    “So what are we going to do? Come on, Random, you’re the expert strategist.
    Think of a way out of this mess.”
    “Strategies require options, and we don’t seem to have any. We’re just going to have to trust what’s left of the onboard computers to crash us as gently as possible.”
    “We can’t be that helpless! We’re Maze people, dammit! Superhumans!” “Unfortunately, none of our abilities are any use in this situation. But we should be able to survive a crash that would kill anyone else.
    Hell, when I attacked the pastel towers back on Golgotha, they shot my gravity sled out of the sky and then set fire to me, and I still walked away from it.” Ruby stared at the useless controls before her.
    “There has to be something we can do. Something to improve our chances.”
    “There is,” Random said suddenly. “Give me a hand.” He hit his strap releases and surged up out of his chair, his face alight with inspiration. He staggered up the slanted central aisle of the shaking ship, and started pulling loose all the remaining chairs and lockers. Ruby hurried after him, new hope in her heart.
    “What is it? What have you thought of, Jack?”
    “A cocoon. We’re going to build a barricade around ourselves, layers of steel and padding, and hope it absorbs most of the impact on landing. Give me a hand here. We’ve only got a few minutes left before we hit.” Ruby joined him, tearing attachments loose. Everything that wasn’t an actual part of the deck or the hull ended up part of the many layers of barricade at the front of the cabin. Finally they ran out of junk and time, and retreated into the heart of the cocoon. They’d left just enough room for the two of them to force their way in, and they sat together in each other’s arms, wedged together so tightly they could barely breathe. The alarm sirens had blended into a single hysterical tone now, and the red emergency lighting had given everything the color of blood. The storm still raged around them, slapping the craft this way and that.
    “I never thought I’d die like this,” said Ruby Journey. “Just sitting helplessly, waiting for the end. I deserved a warrior’s death. A chance to die fighting, on my feet, and take some of my enemies with me.”
    “We’re not dead yet,” said Jack Random. “Never give up hope, Ruby. It’s all that keeps us going.”
    “I always loved you, Jack. Always will. I might not be very good at showing it, but…” “It’s all right. I know. Love you too, Ruby. If we get out of this alive, you want to take another stab at living together?”
    “Hell, no. I don’t love you that much.”
    They laughed quietly together.
    “At least they’ve stopped shooting,” said Random. “Either the storm’s thrown us out of range, or they must think we’re all dead.” “Let us be thankful for small mercies,” said Ruby. “You know, that attack was no accident. Someone down there knew we were coming.” “Yes. We’ll have to ask a few pointed questions about that later. Even if it’s only through a spirit board.”
    “I won’t die,” said Ruby. “I’m not ready to die yet. There’s still so much I meant to do.”
    “I suppose everyone feels like that. I’m… more or less content. I’ve achieved more than I ever expected to. And I got to meet you, eventually. I’ll settle for that.”
    “You always were willing to settle for too little, Jack.” They laughed again, and then the breath was slammed from their bodies as the landing computers cut in and hauled back on the engines, fighting to turn the last of the descent into a landing. The pinnace’s speed fell drastically, the hull groaned and